February 2, 2026
Via Docket (EPA-HQ-OPPT-2018-0443)
The Honorable Lee Zeldin, EPA Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW (MC-7101M)
Washington, DC 20460
Subject: Comments on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Draft Risk Calculation Memorandum: Formaldehyde, Docket # EPA-HQ-OPPT-2018-0438-0240, Fed. Reg. 2025-21776
On behalf of National Taxpayers Union, the nation’s oldest taxpayer advocacy organization, we appreciate the opportunity to comment on EPA’s Updated Draft Risk Calculation Memorandum for formaldehyde. We applaud the Environmental Protection Agency, under the leadership of Administrator Lee Zeldin, for prioritizing best available science, transparency, and rigorous scientific peer review in its implementation of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Such prioritization helps to ensure that TSCA functions most effectively not only for the environment, but also for taxpayers.
EPA’s Updated Draft is a constructive step in the right direction towards a readjustment of the formaldehyde risk evaluation toward chemical-specific evidence and away from unsupported default assumptions. This science-based approach by the Agency will strengthen broad confidence in the TSCA process and support regulatory outcomes that are both protective of human health and durable over time.
TSCA directs EPA to base risk evaluations on the best available science and the weight of the scientific evidence—not generalized precautionary assumptions. The Updated Draft reflects faithful adherence to this mandate by revisiting prior hazard assumptions, incorporating extensive peer-review input, and anchoring inhalation risk calculations in high-quality, controlled human exposure data.
As you know, formaldehyde is a substance common across numerous areas of the economy, including automobile manufacturing and health care. Studies have shown the significant economic value of this chemical to our economy overall and in numerous products used by governments, which means taxpayers have a significant stake in ensuring it can be regulated reasonably to protect both human health and the well-being of American job creators.
NTU has weighed in on this topic consistently over the past several years since the Biden Administration began heavy-handed, poorly-grounded regulatory efforts in the chemical space, including one against formaldehyde. As such, we offer a series of resources that we hope would help guide EPA’s approach to regulation in this case.
1. “Myopic IRIS Program Could Blindside Taxpayers,” April 2022 by Pete Sepp.
2. “NTU-Led Coalition Writes to House Energy and Commerce Committee on EPA Regulatory Powers,” October 2023.
3. “NTU Weighs in on Burdensome Rule by the EPA,” October 2022 by Pete Sepp and Alex Milliken.
EPA’s Updated Draft Risk Calculation Memorandum represents a significant step forward in rightsizing
formaldehyde’s risk evaluation. We commend Administrator Zeldin and the Agency for their leadership in grounding regulatory decisions in evidence, peer review, and chemical-specific science.
As you work to finalize this rule, we stand ready to continue engaging constructively with EPA to support science-based chemical regulation that protects health while supporting U.S. economic leadership and taxpayers.
Sincerely,
Thomas Aiello
Senior Director of Government Affairs